


The Secretary

by MilaReyloJennings



Series: Charlie Barber/ Marriage Story Unofficial sequels [2]
Category: Marriage Story (2019), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Adultery, Angry Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boss/Employee Relationship, Broken Engagement, Canon Related, Charlie is STILL a mess, Complicated Relationships, Confusion, Consensual Infidelity, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Hollywood, Kira is Rey, Light BDSM, Masturbation, Office, Office Sex, Parent-Child Relationship, Rey (Star Wars) is a Mess, Size Kink, Smut, Spanking, Theatre, Unofficial Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:07:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24885085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilaReyloJennings/pseuds/MilaReyloJennings
Summary: Charlie's post Marriage Story's life is a mess. His relationship with his ex-wife Nicole is still strained; his career in theater stagnates and his bank account is empty after he gave most of his money to Nicole and lawyers! As if it was not enough, he woke up one morning after a drunk night in Vegas married to Mary Ann, his former stage manager, who he likes very much but enough to live happily ever after with her? Probably not.Since he moved to Los Angeles after his divorce, Charlie is happy to live close to their son Henry but quickly realizes that careerwise, the opportunities to rebound are much more limited than in New York where he had made a name and knew all the good people!Unsuccessful in his attempts to create a new theater company in L.A., harrassed by Nicole who presses him to pay alimony for Henry and barely able to pay his rent, Charlie decides with a heavy heart to take a temporary but most probably boring job right in the middle of the place he hates the most: Hollywood.He'll be a secretary in an artist agency, and will take the orders of the talent agent Kira Johnson. Kira is young, smart and beautiful.She's also VERY bossy and doesn't take any nonsense. Just like him?
Relationships: Charlie Barber/Rey (Star Wars)
Series: Charlie Barber/ Marriage Story Unofficial sequels [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2007052
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	1. "New Career in a New Town"

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by MyJediLife! <3
> 
> I warned in the tags there would be some INFiDeLitY in this story, but I prefer warning again here: some will be consensual, but some won't. I understand it's a trigger for some so if you're sensitive to the notion of adultery, you may rather avoid reading this story. 
> 
> Thanks!

Enter or not to enter? That was the question for Charlie Barber today. As a theatre man, he had always loved Shakespeare, and especially this monologue of Hamlet that started with “To be or not to be”, even if it had taken him years, maturity, and a lot of readings in front of full rooms to fully understand what it was really about. 

Theater.

Theater had been a part of his life for so long… Actually, no: theater WAS his life. Still, three months ago, he couldn’t even imagine the idea of doing anything else than directing or acting in a theater!

  
Yet, here he was, dressed like a fucking penguin with a tie and ready to postulate for a job. “A real job”, as his father would say. He had even prepared a curriculum vitae! His stage manager and now wife - at least on paper! - Mary Ann had helped him to type it on Microsoft Word, since he had not seen one, let alone written one, for at least twenty years. Charlie had listed all the plays he had written and directed on it; what else could have he put in there anyways, his brief experience as a farm boy in Indiana? 

He had come early, mostly to give himself a chance to run away. If he had the job, he would be a freaking secretary. He didn’t know what was worse: the fact that if he was hired he would have to serve coffee and answer the phone at least fifteen times a day, or that it was Carter, Nicole’s new boyfriend, who had found the job for him thanks to his “contacts”. Carter was a pretentious prick who thought he had it all because he was an executive producer in Hollywood, as if thousands of more talented young sharks weren’t waiting for him to make only one mistake to take his place. But Henry, Charlie’s son, adored him, because he brought him goodies and baked animal shaped cookies with him on the weekend. When they were on vacation in London, Carter had brought Henry and Nicole to Pinewood Studios, where the last installment of the Star Wars franchise was filmed. Henry had come back very excited after he had met his favorite character, Kylo Ren; and he had told Charlie:

“He’s even taller than you, daddy!”

“Nah, Adam Driver’s not taller than me”, Charlie had protested. “We’re the same height. I checked on Google!”

“I met him, he’s taller!” Henry had protested to him.

“Nope. He wears bigger shoes, that’s all.”

Charlie couldn’t stand Carter, but he didn’t want to upset his son, so he had learned to keep his mouth shut. And now the man had interfered in his professional life, too! He had actually proposed a much better paid job to Charlie, but the latter didn’t want to have anything to do with Hollywood or even the movies; he just wanted to stabilize his situation enough to keep his theatre company afloat and, even more importantly, pay alimony to Nicole so she wouldn’t go to the judge again. That was really the main reason why Charlie decided to push the door of the building in at last, and to meet this very important person who was supposed to give him a job.

He took in one last puff of his cigarette - he was usually a social smoker, but for the occasion he had already smoked three this morning already - before sighing and taking a last look at his reflection in the mirror, regretting not having shaved before coming to his appointment. His first impulse had been to think: “Oh, fuck it, they’ll take me how I am!”, but now he realized he had probably been stupid. He should have bettered his odds, instead of acting like a wannabe rebel… But he was here now, and it was too late to shave, so Charlie just threw his cigarette butt away and pushed the door, on which was written in big capital letters: “INNOVATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY”.

The person who had given him the appointment was an agent named Kira Johnson. According to Carter, she was a very good agent, but a terrifying one as well: when speaking of her to Charlie, Carter had joked that Kira often managed to book her artists only because she harassed directors until they hired them! Charlie had then pictured the woman in his head as a forty something embittered woman, who probably had to face sexism all her life and had fought her way through the difficulties inherent to this world of sharks that Hollywood was. Charlie was not in the least afraid of her, but he was prepared to receive a cold reception. 

Kira Johnson’s office was on the fifth floor, so Charlie took the elevator. He then stopped in a hallway adorned with photographs of famous actors from various eras, who had apparently been clients of the agency at some point. Charlie whistled when he recognized big names like Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Spader - Nicole would have totally freaked out; James Spader was her first celebrity crush! - but his attention was quickly given to the large reception desk, where he expected to find a person waiting for him. But there seemed to be no one there, except for a noise that came out from behind the desk - as if a person, or even an animal, was actively searching for something behind it. A female groan eventually indicated that it was definitely a person who was hiding there, so Charlie dared to throw a glance beneath the desk; his eyes falling on a young woman in a tight skirt who was crawling on the ground, her gorgeously peach-shaped bottom slightly stuck up as she was desperately looking for a lost object. Charlie couldn’t help but enjoy the view as it was right there in front of him, even if he was well aware that the young lady was surely unaware of his presence in the room.

“Fuck, where is it?!”, the woman kept grumbling.

Charlie coughed loudly, but remained unheard, as the young woman was way too busy searching under the desk to pay attention to what was happening on the other side of it. Suddenly, she accidentally kicked something with her heel. The small object rolled in Charlie’s direction, who stopped it quickly with his foot. It was a small gold earring with a pearl in the middle; and Charlie picked up the jewel carefully. It looked tiny in his large hands. He cleared his voice and finally spoke:

“Hello? Is that what you’re looking for, Miss?”

A gorgeous face with slightly messy hair emerged from under the reception desk and met Charlie’s eyes, obviously surprised to see Charlie staring at her with an amused look. The girl recognized the earring that was still in his hand and said:

“Hello, thank you so much! I keep losing it all the time, it’s very tiring.”

She grabbed the jewel that Charlie was holding out to her, fastening it back on her ear and considering Charlie and the briefcase he carried for a second before asking:

“So, let me guess: you’re a writer, you’ve got a fabulous script, and you want to submit it to our talent agency?”

Charlie chuckled. He felt instantly attracted to this girl, who was not only pretty, but also had big hazel eyes that exuded confidence and intelligence. He asked with a smirk:

“Do I really look so much like a writer?”

“Oh, absolutely! You could have it written on your forehead and it wouldn’t be more obvious,”the woman replied.

Charlie wondered what in him gave her such a strong impression: was it because he wasn’t shaved? Or, maybe it was his blue shirt that he hadn’t tucked tight enough in his pants, or the tie he had hastily put on without caring how it looked? Or was it the briefcase that could have contained a heavy script? For sure, he surely didn’t look like a young actor in search of an agent, let alone a... secretary.

“Well Miss, I’m impressed by your perspicacity, because indeed, I do write sometimes - and I even had the chance to play my ideas in a scene, even if I generally prefer to play the creations of writers who are way more talented than I am, but… If anything I’m a playwright, not a screenwriter.” Charlie didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence, since the girl stopped him abruptly and declared:

“Oh well, sorry sir, but we don’t do theater here: the people we represent are writers or actors for the cinema only. And we’re already overloaded with work! I mean, look at this mess.”

The brunette impatiently lifted one of the numerous stacks of papers that surrounded her; when he lowered his head, Charlie noted with horror that the whole place was indeed a cringy mess that had probably not been put in order for at least a week! He kept quiet, but he probably thought out loud that it was no wonder why her boss was looking for a replacement, for she complained loudly:

“One person is not enough to deal with this mess, and I can definitely not do everything myself! I really deserve a break because…” she lowered her voice and put her head closer to his: “Please keep it to yourself, but I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown. This place can be Crazy Land!”.

Charlie pouted, as he had somehow imagined that in such a professional environment, things would be at least orderly! But he quickly concluded that the girl was probably not as hard working as she claimed, and had surely spent a great deal of her time texting her friends and filing her nails when she should have been working… That’s why he sounded a bit condescending when he eventually managed to give the real reason for his presence:

“Oh, I’m sure it’s not that bad, right?” The girl threw a cold glance at him, but let him continue: “Actually, I didn’t come here to submit a script, Miss. I’m here because I’ve got an appointment, with…”, he realized he had forgotten his maybe future employer’s name. “I’m here for the job, you know? The secretary position? I’m Charlie Barber, I’m… I’m expected, I guess.”

Charlie had added the “I guess” at the end of his phrase because he wasn’t sure at all that the young secretary had noted his appointment, since she was apparently unable to keep things in order. She curiously reminded him of his ex-wife Nicole at this moment, with whom he used to regularly fight on the subject of the housework. Charlie had always taken it much more seriously than she did. That was why he was often pissed when people threw cliches at him about husbands staying on the couch, letting their wives do all the work! Charlie had always considered himself the opposite of those guys: he was the one who cooked and did most of the cleaning, since no one else seemed to care. Nicole didn’t seem to care about having the house as clean and ordered as he wanted it to be. 

The young woman’s eyes were now wide open, filled with surprise and a new interest for the tall man who was standing in front of her.

“Oh, so you’re Carter’s friend? It’s strange, I didn’t picture you like this at all.”

It was now Charlie’s turn to look amazed. How can a little secretary know about who’s who? He wondered, slightly irritated. As she started rifling through a bunch of papers to look for a file with his name on it, he tried to sound more relaxed by attempting a casual chat with her - mostly because he wanted to hide his increasing anxiety - but also because he found her British accent charming and wanted to hear her speak more before he’d have to face her probably much less alluring boss.

“So, you’re trying to become an actress? That’s why you work here and are leaving now?” He asked out of the blue, while wondering why she was now browsing his curriculum vitae as if it was any of her concern. The girl raised her head to face him, looking puzzled.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“I mean…” Charlie replied with a smirk, “you’re definitely pretty and charming enough to be an actress, so I thought that maybe….” As she saw her frown, he realized he went the wrong way in his assumption, and briefly considered backpedaling, but stressed out as he was by his upcoming interview he had no idea how to. Instead, he just kept going in the same direction, painfully aware that he would probably pass for a fool. 

“Oh I just thought that… Maybe, you know, you had made a lot of interesting contacts here, and now wanted to take your chance at fame, too!”

The young woman darted her inquiring hazel eyes to him; and all of a sudden, she started chuckling almost uncontrollably, as if she had finally understood a joke he had pulled on her, except that… he had made no joke at all, hence why her reaction confused him so much he just grinned with embarrassment. He hoped that she would put an end to his misery by calling her boss and showing him the way to Miss Johnson’s office. But she didn’t, instead she asked, obviously finding the situation hilarious:

“So… You think that I am the secretary, that I work behind this desk, don’t you?”

Charlie instantly felt his face flush as it came to his mind that if she mocked him on this subject, she was probably not this person. His brain was now processing information at an insane speed, and he started hoping that this lovely young woman was the secretary of another person, or even a young executive working in another office, just not….

“Well yes, indeed, since you were standing behind the reception desk, I assumed you also worked there… Wrongly, apparently,” he confessed. 

He gave the girl his best puppy dog eyes, confident that he would soften her like he almost always did when he looked at people - well, women especially - with his sad, sorry eyes. The young woman smirked, and it seemed for a second that she was not indifferent to his excuses, or maybe even to him! But eventually, she chuckled again and muttered:

“Ah yeah, very funny…”

Charlie was about to stammer another apology, but she stopped him with a gesture of her finger, and gave her full attention to a noise that Charlie himself couldn’t hear.

“Do you hear a phone ringing?” She asked.

The young stage director shook his head, but the girl decided nonetheless to walk hastily down the hallway in the direction of an office, telling him with an imperious voice to follow her. “Hopefully she takes me to Miss Johnson’s office now!” he thought, anxious to be done with this job interview once and for all.

They indeed entered a room in which the plaque on the door announced the occupant as “Kira Johnson - Talent Agent” in capital letters. But the office was empty, and the young woman who Charlie had just confused with Miss Johnson’s secretary really had a good ear: the agent’s phone was indeed ringing furiously, and there was no one to answer. So, when the pretty young British lady casually sat down on Miss Johnson’s armchair and comfortably laid her feet up on Miss Johnson’s desk before picking up the phone, Charlie didn’t even need to hear her saying her name to realize the mess he was in: she was Kira Johnson.

Charlie muttered, “Shit!” through clenched teeth and sighed, but shrank down as much as his tall height allowed him to into the armchair that Miss Johnson pointed out to him while she kept talking on the phone. There was no wonder why he mistakenly took her for a person she was not: the young woman he had just met, and who was now facing him, was a very different woman than the one he had envisioned after Carter’s description; she was definitely not a forty-something lady, but probably still in her twenties; about twenty-seven, he evaluated. She was also much prettier than what he had expected, a real delight for the eyes, actually: fair skin, chestnut brown hair that slightly curled at the ends, luscious red lips… She also had a gorgeous pair of legs, just crossed on the top of her desk as she listened to the person on the phone with a rather bored look on her face. While she was nodding and punctuating the conversation with “some “hum hum” and a couple of “I understand”, Miss Johnson’s left hand had slipped under her shirt and was mechanically stroking her breast. Charlie tried hard to look away, as he didn’t want Miss Johnson to believe he was some pervert, especially after the fiasco that their first encounter had been.

Charlie studied her discreetly as she kept listening impatiently to whoever was on the other side of the line: she was now frowning and trying to get a word in edgewise, but the other person apparently had a lot of things to say. Kira Johnson eventually caught Charlie’s eyes and flashed him a lovely smile, before suddenly exploding in anger over the phone with an unexpectedly loud voice and a strong British accent:

“Ok, Phil. I listened to you, I heard all your objections, all your tiring explanations about how she is too old, not famous enough, not sexy enough, and all the other fallacious arguments you gave me in order to convince me that Amanda Riley was not the actress you were looking for, but now it’s you who’ll listen to me. No no no, don’t hang up, it won’t be long: you’ll soon regret that you let this opportunity slip to get a fabulous actress for this stupid B movie of yours. Amanda Riley is way too talented for you! When you realize it, it will be too late to cry. Hear me out, Phil: your film will be long forgotten when Amanda is going to be a B-I-G star, and way out of your range.” Miss Johnson listened intently to the person’s response, her hand still idly stroking her breast, until she replied, “I’m happy for you then. You know, you men are always talking out of your balls, and always are so proud of having some, but you know what I realized a long time ago? I’m a woman, yet I have more balls than a lot of you guys. If I had been you, I would have hired Amanda Riley. And I would have been right. I always am!” She listened once more, nodded her head before replying, “Yeah, Phil, I love you too. I’ll have a thought of you when Family Murders bombs at the box office!”

  
Miss Johnson hung up the phone on these last words, and let out a weary sigh while massaging her forehead as if she was unconscious of Charlie’s presence in the room. The young man felt almost embarrassed to be there now, though he had been quite impressed with Kira Johnson’s angry speech, and had kept his hands gripped on his knees the whole time; he was known to be harsh himself - but fair! - as a director, but Kira Johnson seemed terrifying. He felt almost happy at the idea that she would surely not hire him, and probably was meeting with him only to be nice to Carter, who had recommended Charlie to her. He also kept trying hard not to look too much at her legs, still lying on the desk with black heels suspended at her feet. She was very well dressed, with an elegant and slightly scoop-neck white shirt and a tight but long skirt, both probably made of an expensive fabric. 

Finally, Miss Johnson flashed a big smile at Charlie and apologized while reaching out to shake hands with him - as if they had not met just two seconds before: “Hello again! And yes, in case you still have doubts, I’m Kira Johnson. So sorry for that,” she added with a warm voice, pointing to the telephone. “Men like him wouldn’t recognize a talent even if it hit them in the face.”

Charlie took her hand, nodding before responding, “Yeah, I think I know what kind of man you’re talking about… But I’m actually the one who should apologize for my behaviour earlier on. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot right at the onset: I really thought you were…”

His words trailed off as she spoke, interrupting him with a smile. “The secretary, I got that! And you’re right, not being well informed about who I was, and hitting on me while you’re obviously married was probably not the best way to start!” she snapped with a quick glance at his wedding ring.

Charlie now wished he could literally sink into the thick leather of his chair and disappear. Since it was impossible, he tried, probably in vain, to defend himself and improve the tarnished image of him Miss Johnson had already created in her head:

“I was not hitting on you, I swear! I just wanted to be nice; to have a conversation, you know?”

“Please, Mr. Barber,” Miss Johnson then replied with much seriousness, “you tossed me a tacky compliment, as if I was some girl you had just picked up in a bar.”

Charlie’s face flushed in embarrassment. “I’m sorry if it’s the impression I gave, because really that was not the point… I came here to meet with you about the position, not to… I must confess: I thought you were older.”  
  
“And I thought you were younger! But let’s forget about all this and begin to get in the heart of the matter, alright?” Miss Johnson said, leveling a gaze at him across her desk.

Charlie coughed and breathed a discreet sigh of relief. “Yes, please….” he murmured, uncomfortable.

“So, Mr Barber, you’re a director yourself, but for theater, right? How come you’re applying for this job now? I’m genuinely curious…” Miss Johnson then asked with a cute smirk.

Charlie chuckled with embarrassment, but he had expected this question to pop up at some point, so he just let the answer he had prepared tumble from his lips:

“Well, I’ve spent all my life in the theater, and of course, I love it, but then I got divorced from my son’s mother and moved to Los Angeles to be closer to him. I realized that since I was in the fabric of movies itself, the center of it all, I just wanted to move on and try something else. I had to leave my theater company in New York anyways, so when Carter told me that you were looking for someone to help you, I thought…. Why not?” It was a lie of course, but he had to sound motivated! 

“And, so, you’re aware that it’s only a secretary job that I’m hiring for, right? It’s really not… It’s really not a fascinating job, you know? You won’t create anything, you will have to read a shit ton of bad, even very bad, boring, awfully written screenplays so I don’t have to do it, prevent a lot of wannabe actors from gaining access to my office, and have terrible phone conversations on the phone like the one I just had, once again so I don’t have to get those calls. Oh, and of course you’ll have to get me some coffee several times a day - because I’m addicted to coffee. You’d also have to do a certain number of other painful tasks - because that’s what the job requires.”

Miss Johnson spoke fast,t without hesitating. The tone of her voice clearly indicated she was a woman who knew what she wanted and generally obtained it… It didn’t unsettle Charlie, though, who had - after all - been married to Nicole, a woman who had a similar temper! So he just smiled politely and replied:

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I expected. I’m fine with it.”

Miss Johnson looked at him for a long moment before stating, “It’s a boring job. A very… Very… boring job.”

“Well, maybe I want to be bored, Miss Johnson.”

As Miss Johnson paused and looked him straight in the eyes once more, he felt a pleasant but unwelcome shiver going up his arm. He now noticed that her eyes were not only hazel, but had a touch of green in them too… The thing was, when Charlie noticed the colour of a woman’s eyes so fast, it generally meant he was very attracted to her.

_Good thing she’ll definitely not hire me!_ He thought. He fiddled nervously with his wedding ring, a gesture that didn’t escape Kira Johnson’s attention, but if she deduced anything about his current feelings, she didn’t let it show. Charlie noticed she herself wore a shiny big rock on her ring finger; whomever had asked for her hand in marriage was probably a wealthy man, much more than Charlie would ever be! Not that he cared: being rich had never been an ambition for him, for he only wanted to do what he loved. Miss Johnson eventually took her feet off from her desk but kept her legs visible for Charlie’s eyes as she crossed them again in a more conventional posture. Once again, he felt impressed by the unbreakable self assurance that emanated from her person. She broke the silence with a question he didn’t expect to hear:

“You’re not only a director, but also a very good actor, Mr. Barber, am I wrong?”

“Errr… Me? I wouldn’t say that…” Charlie muttured, surprised. “I often gave myself a role in my plays, but fortunately my coworkers were always better than I was,” he added with a chuckle. 

“And yet I almost believed in the little speech you gave me… I’m just too used to good actors. With experience you know how to recognize a liar when you see one, but I guess I didn’t learn anything from you?” she then replied, a little smile at the corner of her lips. 

Oops, caught in the act! Charlie smirked, but didn’t even try to protest. This Miss Johnson was not only a beautiful woman - but also a smart cookie, and now he felt just…. stupid.   
At least, he thought, laughing internally, It’ll give a reason for Mary Ann to laugh at me. 

His ex wife had been the one to express the biggest skepticism towards Charlie’s decision to apply for the job, as she thought he should have stuck to theater; as if he really had a choice…. He didn’t find anything to answer but:  
“Well…” giving her a shrug.

“Now tell me the truth, Charlie Barber…. Why are you here?” Miss Johnson asked.

“Does it really matter? I will leave this room without the job anyways, won’t I?” Charlie stated in return.

“I haven’t decided that yet,” she declared, frowning, “so yes, it does matter!”

“Ok…” Charlie began, “But be warned: it’s boring. I’ve tried to have a theater company in Los Angeles, like I had in New York. But it’s so different here… All these young actors want to play in movies and become famous, they’re not interested in theater. So until now, I only managed to cast mediocre to very mediocre actors, who are all bitter because they won’t get a role in a movie. Some are rather good performers, who just want to do theater while waiting for their big break through in Hollywood. On top of that, I have an ex wife, who herself struggles to revive her past glory, and considers me responsible for ruining her acting career. She’s not entirely wrong, to be honest, and is not very happy that I’m currently not able to pay her alimony each month, and keeps threatening to go back to the judge. I fought too hard, and sacrificed too much to be a father for my son…. I refuse to lose him again, so… Here I am! See, as I told you, it’s really not interesting,” he concluded with a wide smile. 

“It’s still much better than the previous story. At least it rings true… I just don’t get why you didn’t apply for a better job than… a secretary? I’m sure that with your experience and Carter’s connections, you could obtain something more… fulfilling?” 

“Look, Miss Johnson, you’re smart and you take no bulllshit, so I will be totally honest with you: I don’t intend to settle down in Hollywood. I fucking hate Hollywood.” Miss Johnson let out a laugh that sounded adorable to his ears, but Charlie continued: “I just want to get back on my feet, work for four or five months to save money for alimony and my theater company, and then return to theater full time. That’s all.”

“So basically, your goal when you came here was to let me down in a few months…. Right?” MIss Johnson asked, watching him.

“Yes Ma’am….” he confessed, a childish grin on his face. 

Charlie’s eyes briefly settled on her neckline, then moved swiftly towards her legs.... Stop staring at her legs! he admonished himself, too late though - Miss Johnson caught his eyes, but to his relief, smiled and even seemed… did she look charmed? 

Charlie looked away and started shaking nervously in his chair, while wondering why he felt that way: she was what, ten years younger than him? And she didn’t seem to be as formidable as Carter had described her. Anyways, he just wanted her to tell him she was looking for someone else, so he could leave this place, go back home and pick Henry up from Nicole’s house. But instead of releasing him, Kira Johnson considered the hands he had put on his knees for a moment, watching his nervous movements.   
“Your hands are…. huge!” She murmured with obvious amazement. A bit surprised by her remark, Charlie looked at his hands as if seeing them for the first time, and jokingly answered: “Uh yeah, they’re quite big. Just like my feet, and, unfortunately, my ears and my nose.”

Kira Johnson didn’t laugh, but let her eyes go down, to stop right under his belt. Or at least that was the impression he got… And he was probably right, since she asked with a little smirk floating on her lovely lips:

“And what else?”

Damn, she was bold! Taken aback, Charlie blushed like a teenage schoolboy, and chuckled with embarrassment, but responded with a grin: “It’s my wife you should ask about that. I doubt she would answer, though.”

“Oh, she doesn’t like to share her toys?” Miss Johnson asked in a teasing manner. 

Charlie grinned before answering, “You know what? I haven’t asked her yet. Maybe I should?”

They laughed together for a few seconds, but then Kira became serious again, sliding her fingers through her hair before finally saying the words Charlie expected to hear since their appointment had begun: 

“Well, Mr. Barber, that you don’t want to stay for more than a few months is not really a problem. I actually prefer to know that right now, rather than seeing you pack your things at the last minute, without warning! But I’m sorry, I don’t think it would work. You’re way too competent for this job.”

Charlie found himself responding, “I told you I didn’t mind that.”

“You’re not used to having a boss, you’re a free spirit.” Kira responded.

Charlie nodded, “You’re right… But as I said earlier, for my son I can handle authority. I can accept everything.” 

“Really? Carter surely told you I was rigid and merciless? I can be harsh. Really harsh.”

“He warned me you had a certain temper, indeed…. I don’t mind.” Charlie smiled at her.

“Do you think I fit with the description he gave you?” She teased.

“You’re much prettier than I thought, but…”

Miss Johnson raised her eyebrows when she heard these last words, and Charlie felt he had gone a step too far. Again. 

“Sorry, Miss Johnson, I didn’t mean to…. What I wanted to say was that yes, you’re almost what I expected.”

But Kira Johnson sneered at him: “You have no idea, I can be much worse than that. I don’t think you could put up with my ‘temper’.” 

She eventually put an end to the discussion when she stood up and left her desk, thus inviting him to stand from his chair; which he did reluctantly. He felt he hadn’t fought enough. Charlie felt exactly like when he lost at Monopoly: he was very competitive and hated to lose, and he refused to abandon the game before he played all his cards. Miss Johnson, who was now standing in front of her desk, held out her hand to him. Charlie made a move to shake it, but eventually lowered his arm and just asked: “Try me.” He was less self-assured than he sounded, but it seemed to impress Miss Johnson, who still argued:

“I’m a woman, and younger than you. Many men don’t accept a woman for a boss, especially younger than them. That’s why I usually hire women to assist me… They’re here only in the hope to get a role in a movie and bad-mouth me, but they rarely contest my authority. To be honest with you, I chose to meet you because Carter insisted… He likes you, you know?”

“To be honest with you, too, the feeling is not mutual, but I appreciate your kind words. But now I’m the one to insist: try me, please. I’m not one of these men who feel threatened by powerful women; on the contrary - I admire them!”

Kira Johnson’s brief smile let Charlie think that she was now hesitating, but she tried another angle: “You’re married, you’ve got a child…” she stated. “There’s a lot of work here, you’ll often have to stay lat! Do you think your wife will accept that?”

Charlie shrugged. “I lead a theater company, I often come home late in the evening…. sometimes when I write, she doesn’t even see me once during an entire evening! So, she’s pretty used to it already…. Not to mention that my marriage is a bit special… Oh, never mind.”

“What do you mean by ‘special’? Are you married or not?” Miss Johnson insisted, now intrigued. 

“Well, technically I am, but... “ he let out a goofy laugh, embarrassed that he had revealed already too much of his private life.   
_But the truth is that I went with a fuck buddy in Las Vegas, got drunk with her and woke up the morning after with a ring on my left finger, a terrible headache and a marriage certificate from the Graceland Wedding Chapel. I barely remembered a ceremony presided by a fake Elvis, but in my head it was a joke. But nope, it was not a joke. I guess it qualifies as “special”, but you don’t need to know all this,_ Charlie replied, but only in his head where she couldn't hear him. _  
_

“Really, it’s not interesting.” Charlie then added with a seducing smirk: “Try me, you won’t regret it.”

Miss Johnson giggled in such a way that Charlie felt he had finally won the game. She bit her lips and observed: “Try me, try me… You sound like a date from Tinder!”

“I hope I’m a good date, then…” He regretted these words the second after his stupid mouth had muttered them.   
_Stop flirting with her, asshole_ , his internal voice screamed. 

Kira Johnson didn’t look offended in the least, though. Rather the opposite actually: she squeezed her eyes and leaned against her desk, and bluntly checked him out from head to toe. Charlie blushed like he had done before when her eyes went to his crotch, though it didn’t last long enough to make him feel really embarrassed. In other circumstances, he would have surely enjoyed this attention, especially coming from such a beautiful woman, but…. in the present context, she rather made him feel like a horse sold at an animal fair, examined and evaluated. It was a bit… Unsettling. 

Finally, Miss Johnson reached out for his hand again, but said this time the words he hoped to hear as much as he feared them came forth: “Ok, Barber, you convinced me! I’ll…” she stopped briefly and grinned: “Try you, for a week. You’re paid at the end of the month, $1,800 for a start, it may increase if your work is better than average. You start at 9 am and end at 5pm, two days off a week.”

Charlie smiled wide, and this time, took the hand she offered him. “Thank you Miss Johnson, thank you very much.”

“Well, I hope I won’t regret it?” she replied while shaking his hand, with a charming smirk that enlightened her face.

“I surely hope so too,” he confessed with a little sheepish smile. “Do I need to shave?”

“Hmm... no, as long as you look clean, that’s enough for me. You start tomorrow at nine. Come on time or don’t come at all!”

Kira Johnson returned to her desk and immediately her attention was away from Charlie. But as he thought they were done and turned his back on her, she called him back:  
“Barber?”

He turned and waited, slightly worried about what she wanted to add now.

“You told me earlier it was probably ‘not that bad’. Don’t think for a second that it won’t be…” she warned with a smile that seemed nice at first, yet had something slightly… diabolical about it.

Charlie nodded, whispered a “goodbye,” and opened the door of Miss Johnson’s office and left. 

Charlie couldn’t believe what had just happened: he got the job! He was so excited at this moment that, for a few seconds, he forgot that he had just agreed to take the shittiest job he had ever done: secretary. He would be a secretary! When he eventually came to his senses, he laughed aloud - even if he was alone. _Who knew_ , he thought, _maybe it would give him a good material for a play?_


	2. Truth comes from the mouth of an innocent child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie is now officially the new secretary of Kira Johnson! He's happy to tell the good news to his ex-wife Nicole when he drives to her place to pick Henry up. Nicole is not so thrilled when she learns about his sudden and drunk marriage with his friend and former stage manager Mary Ann (also the woman he cheated her with), and an argument ensues. 
> 
> Henry also expresses his disdain for Charlie's foolish decision and shows that he can be wiser than his father.
> 
> Fortunately, Mary Ann is not more sure about their engagement than Charlie is. They have to take a decision.

He drove directly to his ex-wife Nicole’s house, whistling in his car. He had to go there to pick Henry up for “his week”, which worked out perfectly well, since he could also tell Nicole he had just gotten the job. She would surely be happy and chill down about the payment of the alimony.

Twenty minutes later, Charlie was in Nicole’s house. Worried about being late - something that Nicole couldn’t stand anymore - he had driven faster than usual and got there sooner than he expected: after a year, Charlie was hardly getting used to Los Angeles’ long distances between everything! Of course, Nicole had complained about him being too early. She was sensitive about a lot of things lately, Charlie had noticed; he had even wondered if she was not pregnant again. He didn’t feel even remotely concerned about this idea: he was definitely not the father, and the old feelings of jealousy that still hit him when he would see Nicole getting cozy with her new boyfriend the first months of their relationship had left Charlie for good now. He had never wanted anything else for Nicole but to be happy with her new life, and it looked like she generally was. Charlie knew their son was also in a good place when he wasn’t around. 

Carter was also in the house when Charlie came in. Charlie internally groaned when he saw him: he had not moved in yet, but it often felt as if he had since he was almost always there! Charlie didn’t like him very much, and this distaste had nothing to do with Nicole, as he sometimes had to explain to Henry and other people. Charlie just didn’t like what Carter represented; according to Charlie, it was the opposite of what he himself tried to stand up for. Carter had always despised Charlie’s theater, that he had more than once called “theater for hipsters” - as if it was something bad. Nicole’s boyfriend’s main preoccupation was money, and the best ways to make it. He fit perfectly in the Hollywood mold, and enjoyed nothing more than the announcement of the turnover made by a movie he had produced when it was announced on TV. At least, that was how Charlie saw him.

Nicole, on the other hand, appreciated that he was available for holidays on weekends, that he was affectionate and appreciative of her work, and great with Henry - whom he almost loved as a son. She said that list to Charlie once, to remind him of all these things she had missed during her marriage with him and was deeply enjoying now. What could he have answered to that? Nothing. So since then, Charlie had learnt to shut his mouth and pretend he liked Carter - because Henry wanted him to.

Carter showed up just as Charlie had announced the news of his hiring. While Nicole and Henry, who had packed his things to spend the week at his father’s house, congratulated Charlie, Carter asked him how the interview had gone with Kira Johnson. Charlie chuckled with embarrassment and told them briefly about the “small” misunderstanding at the beginning, and how it had unexpectedly turned well for him. When he heard that, Carter guffawed with delight.

“I’m sure Kira loved being confused with the receptionist! I’m actually surprised she didn’t get you removed from her office in a minute.”

“I won’t lie, I’m still amazed she gave me a chance, because it really didn’t bode well. I think I amused her!” Charlie admitted with a smirk.

“Amused?” I’ve rarely seen this woman amused by anything.” Staring at Henry with a grin, he specified: “You see Sleeping Beauty? Well, Kira would rather be the mean Queen.”

“If she’s like in Maleficent, she’s rather cool!” Henry argued.

“Yeah, she’s not nearly as hot as Angelina Jolie.”

“Oh, she’s cute enough!” Charlie remarked. “By the way guys, it could have been useful to warn me that she was actually very young? The way you had described her to me, I expected to find a middle-aged woman who had seen it all, not a twenty-five girl looking like a model!” 

“I would have told you if I had known,” Nicole observed, before sideyeing Carter, to whom she remarked: “You never ever mentioned that either… I wonder why?” she teased him, half suspicious, half mocking. 

“Seriously? Because when you know her, that’s the last thing that you remember, I swear! And frankly, sweetheart, you’re so beautiful I hardly notice the other women now.” 

Nicole giggled with indulgence, even if she obviously didn’t buy his sweet talking. Charlie rolled his eyes, still uncomfortable when Nicole and Carter displayed their intimacy in front of him. If he had accepted that his ex-wife had rebuilt her life with another man, he would never be able to see her kissing him or even looking at him tenderly without feeling weird, even if it didn’t last more than a second. Carter may have noticed his reaction, since he called him out.

“And, Charlie? You could have checked her out on Google. With all the celebrities she represents, she’s rather famous herself.” He shrugged and added: “And photographers love her for some reason.”

Charlie groaned something about not being used to “checking people out on Google.” As Nicole was about to say something, Henry impatiently interrupted her and asked Charlie: “Dad, can we go now? I’m hungry, can we eat?

“I don’t feel like cooking, and Mary Ann will probably be too tired, so we’ll go out for pizza.”

“Oh Dad, can’t it be just you and me?”, the ten-year-old boy begged.

Charlie felt Henry’s disappointment at the idea that he would not have his father to himself anymore, but he held on:

“Then we’d be leaving Mary Ann alone at home, waiting for us to bring her a slice of pizza? Do you think that’d be nice?”




Henry pouted and shrugged.

“I don’t like her!” he exclaimed.

“Oh, now that’s something new,” Charlie snapped, a touch of irony sounding in his voice. “You already told me that last week, and yet I remember you were always around her when you came to the theater!” 

“Yeah well, that was before you made this stupid marriage and she moved with us.”

Charlie sighed. A month ago, Mary Ann, who was the stage manager of his New York theater company, and was heartbroken over a relationship that had just ended, had decided to visit Charlie in Los Angeles to spend a couple of days there. Since they both felt low and needed to have fun, they eventually had the idea of driving to Las Vegas to spend the weekend there. The first night of their stay, they had gotten so drunk that they convinced each other that since they were so lonely, they should get married and live together - so at least they wouldn’t be still alone when they would reach forty years old! If they had first laughed cheerfully at the idea, a few drinks later they had finally challenged each other to go to the Grassland Elvis Chapel and ask an Elvis priest to marry them. They were both so out of their minds that they had found the idea fantastic; an hour later, it was done. The day after, they had both woken up with a bad hangover and wedding rings bought at the chapel shop… 

“Well, you’ll have to get used to it, because she’s not going anywhere, Henry. She’s going to stay with us, she already agreed to be the stage manager for my theater company here; even if, of course, there’s nothing much to manage now…” he groaned.

“But she helps me find actors who might be interested in joining us. Apparently she received some interesting portfolios so.... we’ll see what happens in the next months…” he continued with a quick glance to Nicole, who looked as shocked as Henry seemed upset. 

The child didn’t reply, but hugged Nicole instead, as well as Carter - it caused a pinching in Charlie’s heart, since he once again felt like the bad guy - then walked mumbling inaudible words towards Charlie’s car and leaned against it with his arms crossed.

“Wait, what?” Nicole exclaimed after Henry walked away. “I believed it was just a stupid mistake that you and Mary Ann made when you were “drunk out of your skull”, and that you would annul it “as soon as you could”? Those are the words you used, remember? But she is staying now?!”

Carter, who surely felt that the tide was turning and didn’t want to find himself in the middle of a fight between his girlfriend and her ex-husband, wisely slipped away after a quick goodbye to Charlie, who for once appreciated his attitude. Charlie shrugged and replied impatiently: “Well, we discussed it, and decided to give ourselves a chance! Mary Ann wants to stay in LA, she’s tired of New York; and guess what: she loves “the space,” too. We get on well, we even have a lot of fun together, and getting an annulment is not free, or even as easy as we thought!”

As Nicole was fulminating, he went on with a grin. 

“Why are you so upset now? It’s not as if we had a chance to get back together, do we?”

“Of course we don’t! It is not even about me!” Nicole argued angrily. “Surprisingly, I’m not even mad that among all the women you could have chosen to play this silly comedy with, you pick the one you cheated on me with!”

“I have not cheated on you with her, I was already on Couchland for a year when it happened; do we really need to talk about that again?” Charlie moaned, before being brutally interrupted by Nicole, who pointed at Henry out with one hand:

“But have you thought of Henry for a minute? First, you guys come back from Las Vegas married by Elvis fucking Presley, which is already hard to hear for a sensitive kid, then you say it was just a joke and you’ll divorce soon, and now you change your minds again? Don’t you realize how confusing it is for him?”

“YES, I do!” Charlie yelled. “This is precisely why I want to take the three of us out for dinner, so that we can discuss this situation quietly! I mean, what did you think, that I would stay alone and lonely for the rest of my life, while you’re rebuilding your life and buy a brand new dad for Henry?”

“A ‘brand new dad’?” What the fuck are you talking about? Carter doesn’t try to replace you as a father, if that’s what you fear. And no, I never wanted you to end your days alone, and frankly I’m even surprised it happens only now! I just didn’t expect it to be.. like that! I’m sorry, it’s fucked up! Do you even love her?”

“Love? Does it matter so much?” Charlie replied without thinking too much, tired of this endless discussion.

“Well, maybe it’s generally the main reason why two people get married, for instance?”

“Oh, that? Yeah, sure. Because for us it turned out so well.”

Charlie thought he had marked a point this time, since Nicole was so taken aback that she just stared at him and shook her head. But she quickly attacked him again, definitely not ready to let him go without having the last word:

“You know what I find hilarious, finally? It’s that you managed to drag her to Los Angeles and to keep her with you so you can use her in your company, just like you dragged me from LA to New York and kept me there with you! And I’m sure she feels so happy to be able to help you there while you struggle, happy to be someone important in your life at last!”

_ Oh no _ , Charlie totally knew what Nicole was doing here. He lost his cool and pointed a finger at her while responding:

“Don’t even try to project yourself on her, you….She’s very different from you, she doesn’t lean on me for everything! I didn’t even ask her to come, or even to work with me! She made these decisions by herself!”

“Oh, surely she’s different. She’s more the kind who destroys a marriage than someone who builds one! But still, even you have to admit that it’s kinda like history repeating itself: once again you found a way to turn the situation to YOUR advantage,” Nicole said, pointing aggressively to Charlie - just as he had done seconds before.

“If you say so…” Charlie mumbled.

Henry fortunately came to his rescue by giving him an excuse to end a discussion Charlie really didn’t want to have with his ex-wife, who had decided before their divorce to blame him for everything that had gone wrong in their marriage, and was still obviously holding a strong grudge against him after all this time. 

“Dad, can we go now?” Henry’s little voice pleaded from Charlie’s car. “Stop arguing, I’m hungry!”

Charlie gave him a nod and joined him before opening the car door and letting him take his place on his car seat. Nicole also briefly came to give a big kiss to Henry, before heading back to her house without a glance for Charlie. The latter didn’t waste more time and climbed in the car, put the radio on and tried to cheerfully sing the Stevie Wonder tune that played, though his heart wasn’t really there. He hated when he had these cat fights with Nicole; they made him feel like they were back where they were before the divorce, and he knew it was not a healthy situation for their son, or even for himself. Henry needed two adult parents able to communicate and agree to make the right decisions for him, not a pair of angry teenagers who dwelled on the past at every occasion! 

A bit less than two hours later, Henry, Charlie and his new wife and long time collaborator Mary Ann dined at The Trattoria, Charlie’s favorite pizzeria - that was also conveniently located near his house. One thing that Charlie particularly hated in Los Angeles was the distances one had to make to go from point A to point B. He still remembered how Nicole’s bitchy lawyer tried to sell him the advantages of “the space” there was in L.A.; his mind hadn’t changed a bit: “Fuck the space!”. He still achingly missed his New York neighbourhood, even though in a year he had managed to settle down with a pleasant routine, and was even able to bond with a couple of shop owners. But his inability to find reliable collaborators for his theater company, as well as the cruel lack of true friends in his area, often made Charlie feel bitter and discouraged. Such feelings were new to him! He had always fought against adversity and found ways to get out of his problems, but in this city Charlie felt stuck.

That was why he had eventually accepted to work with this woman - “Sleeping Beauty’s Mean Queen” - in Carter’s own words, and had been so happy to see Mary Ann visiting him. Tying the knot with her was, of course, not a part of his plans though, and now he felt a bit dizzy - as if he was in the wake of the strangest dream he could have ever had. It was surely not the wisest decision of his life! Fortunately, Mary Ann was as disturbed and unsure about the whole thing as he was. On the road between Nicole’s home and his, Charlie had reflected that his ex-wife was wrong on so many levels that her criticisms would have been laughable, if only she didn’t have the power to take Henry away from him again.

  
  


The dinner that Charlie had hoped to be relaxed and a perfect context for a discussion between him, Henry and Mary Ann, was unfortunately rather dull and even quite tense, mostly because of Henry’s behaviour. The boy hardly touched his pizza, while he usually devoured most of it when he and Charlie had their “pizza dates”. He also outrageously ignored Mary Ann, despite the young woman’s frequent attempts to communicate with him and even to make him laugh with hilarious jokes that brought Charlie to tears, but left Henry cold and pouting. Charlie managed to contain his growing irritation during the evening though, for he knew where the boy was coming from, but when he tried to discuss the current situation with him, all he obtained from Henry was a shrug and the first sentence of more than three words of the evening::

“You guys can say what you want, you were stupid to get married.”

As well as his first words to Mary Ann:

“Dad doesn’t even love you! He almost said it to Mom!”

“Henry!”, Charlie then groaned with anger, swearing internally as he realized Henry probably heard every bit of his argument with Nicole.

“What? I’m just telling the truth! You’ve got a loud voice, Dad….” Henry recalled, as if he had just read Charlie’s mind and wanted to confirm his greatest fear. “You said that love didn’t matter in marriage!” The boy then insisted on saying.

“That’s enough!” Charlie yelled, louder than he wanted to. 

Henry’s face became red; furious, he left his chair and the table in anger, yelling that he needed to take a piss. Charlie felt so embarrassed that he immediately turned to Mary Ann to apologize:

“I’m so sorry. He misunderstood what I said! I didn’t mean…”

“Charlie, it’s alright.” Mary Ann interrupted with a soft voice, amazingly serene considering the tricky situation she found herself in. “I’m not dumb, I know you didn’t propose to me because you were in love with me, but because you were drunk,” she added cheerfully. “And I accepted for the exact same reason! I’m still laughing when I think of it… We were so wasted that we fell out without even having sex.”

“But we caught up later…” Charlie recalled, giving her a naughty smirk. 

“Oh, yeah, that was cool! Anyways, I’d like us to discuss all this after Henry goes to his room.”

“Cool?” Charlie repeated, slightly vexed.

Mary Ann indicated with a tilt of her head that Henry was going back from the bathroom. Henry sat down and looked at them in silence for a few seconds, before whispering, his eyes riveted on his almost untouched plate:

“I’m sorry Dad.”

Charlie felt his heart melt, as always when Henry apologized without being prompted. It didn’t prevent him from correcting his son: he wanted him to apologize to Mary Ann. As Henry obliged, the young woman smiled and replied:

“I’m the one who should apologize to you, Henry. I know it’s very confusing for you right now, and I… I hope we can sort it out and be friends again, like before?”

Henry shrugged again, but at last raised his eyes from his pizza to face her and even give her a tiny, yet unconvinced smirk. He then asked his dad if he could bring his pizza back home to eat it the day after, and Charlie nodded and asked their waitress for the bill. 

Back at Charlie’s house, Henry was very tired, so Charlie accompanied him to his bedroom and read him a book, while the sweet Mary Ann was waiting downstairs for him to come back.

“Are you in bed, Henry?” Charlie asked as he was climbing the stairs. 

“Yeah!” the boy replied from his room with a tired voice.

Henry already had the book he wanted Charlie to read in his hands; it was the junior novelization of “Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl,” which Nicole had started reading to him. Henry was a big fan of Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, and had watched all the movies and now wanted to read all the books related to this character. Charlie and Nicole gladly encouraged his new passion by buying the books for him, as well as reading the recent Star Wars comics, it had greatly helped him to overcome the reading problems he had a year before. 

Charlie read him a long chapter of the junior novelization. Henry listened with fascination, as if he hadn’t already watched the movie three times and didn’t know every beat of the story. The boy only sighed with annoyance when came the romantic scene where Elizabeth gave his medallion back to Will, so Charlie smiled and tried to make it quick, for he knew romance bored Henry now like it did for most boys, who usually preferred adventures and fight scenes over love stories. After the young dad closed the book and claimed it was time for Henry to sleep, the latter asked:

“Could we skip the romantic stuff tomorrow? It’s the only thing I don’t like!”

“I guess I could… Yet, I think it’s a shame. Elizabeth and Will’s romance is a very important part of the story, “ Charlie pointed out with a soft voice. “And I remember you used to love it when the characters lived happily ever after. We even cried together at the movies!” He recalled to his son with a tender smirk on his lips.

“That was because I thought love existed in real life. But I know it doesn’t, now.” Henry snapped, strangely cold and defeatist for his young age.

Taken aback, and also saddened by his son’s brutal change of heart, Charlie softly stroked his hair, which was dark and thick like his, and said:

“It does exist, Henry. It may not be necessarily as obvious and romantic as it is for Elizabeth Swan and Will Turner, but there are love stories that are real! They don’t always last, but…

_ The greatest thing _

_ You’ll ever learn _

_ Is just to love _

_ And be loved _

_ In return…” _

Charlie sang after he cleared his throat. As he sang this song he loved, he suddenly felt overwhelmed by his own emotions, as it reminded his still aching heart of what he used to have… a long time ago, now. 

Henry’s eyes grew wider when he heard his father singing.

“Who sings that?”

“Nat King Cole and a lot of other artists  _ sang _ that. It’s Nature Boy. It was covered by a lot of artists since then, but Nat King Cole’s version remains the most famous and probably the most moving... Though, David Bowie’s was also quite heartbreaking in  _ Moulin Rouge _ …”

“Mom and you, you were in love, but you hate each other now…” Henry whined, and suddenly Charlie understood why the boy didn’t believe in love anymore. 

“Of course it’s our fault again,” he concluded, bitter. 

But he was not ready to accept his son becoming cynical and distrustful towards love because of his own failures as a husband.

“Your mother and I don’t hate each other, darling. We sometimes argue because we have different opinions about you or… other things, and as it happens we raise our voices probably too much. But I still have love for her, and I think… I think she feels the same about me! It’s just a different kind of love than what we had before. Love has not disappeared, but it sort of… transitioned, if that means anything.”

Henry nodded his head to show he understood, even though he looked so tired that his father wondered if he was not just trying to tell him what he thought he wanted to hear. As he fought against his need to rest, the boy asked anyways:

“Do you think you can love someone again like you loved Mom before, Dad?

“Oh, yes, I think? I hope, at least…” he admitted. 

“But you don’t love Mary Ann like that, right?”

Henry was staring at him and waiting for an honest answer; Charlie saw it in his eyes. He knew he could have twisted the truth and pretended the boy had misunderstood what he had heard earlier, but he didn’t feel the strength to lie to his son after their heartfelt conversation, so he just replied:

“As I said, there are different kinds of love. Now it’s time to sleep, little pirate.”

Henry smiled and gave him a goodnight hug. Then, he wrapped up in his blanket and closed his eyes. Charlie put the book down and quietly left the boy’s room without forgetting to turn the light off.

  
  
  


About half an hour later, Charlie quietly went down the stairs and found Mary Ann reading in the library, which Charlie also used as his office. He was so careful at making as little noise as possible that she didn’t hear him coming, focused on a rereading of Bram Stoker’s  _ Dracula _ . 

Charlie took advantage of his temporary invisibility to observe his bride - oh! How weird it still was to call her “my wife” or “my bride” - from a respectable distance: with her mousy hair, her grey eyes and her rather ordinary looking face, Mary Ann was not exactly a striking beauty like Nicole or even Kira Johnson, his new boss, was. But she was one of the most hilarious people Charlie knew, with a witty personality and a great mental alertness that Charlie always appreciated very much. For years, their relationship had been limited to friendship, and there was a time when Charlie would have never thought it would go further. But a year after Nicole had kicked him out of the marital bed without giving him a reason, Charlie and Mary Ann had surprised themselves by kissing on Mary Ann’s couch before crawling on it together. They had both decided that it was a mistake, and had never slept together again, but discovering their short-lived affair after she had hacked Charlie’s emails had driven Nicole mad anyways, and confirmed even more deeply her desire to file for divorce. 

Months after the divorce had been finalized, she had admitted that it was more the silence that he and Mary Ann had kept about the whole thing that had angered her the most, rather than their little tryst. Nicole had felt like an idiot when she had realized that both had kept on acting normal with her when they worked together at the theatre while they knew what had happened. When Charlie had argued that he just wanted to protect her from any useless suffering, Nicole had replied that she would have immediately understood and forgiven him, and maybe even her as well, if only they had been honest with her; the thing that had infuriated her had been the fact that he had pulled a straight face in front of her and obliged her in being suspicious after she had detected a couple of alarming signs… It had definitely annihilated her capacity to trust Charlie again. 

Charlie tried to chase these bad memories away. He had to move on from the past now, he thought, just like Nicole had done. He knew he also had to learn from it, though. After Nicole had moved to Los Angeles and brought Henry with her, Charlie had realized more than ever how much he loved being a family man. He was perfectly capable of living by himself: he cooked, kept the house so clean that he could eat off the floor if he wanted to, had bought a washing machine to avoid hours of waiting at the laundromat, and never drowned in booze…. But the hardest part had been for him to live alone in a house empty of the cheerful sounds of a kid playing loudly in his room, without the small talks that he and Nicole constantly shared before their relationship fizzled out. It had taken many months to get used to this deafening silence that only his own thoughts and bad television could break. When Mary Ann had unexpectedly shown up without a warning, she had been surprised to find the television on in the middle of the day. She had known Charlie hated it with a passion, and would only watch the movies that had received a respectable critical reception. At least, since she had moved in, Charlie turned the television on only when Henry was here, after his homework was completed. 

Charlie coughed, so he didn’t take Mary Ann by surprise while she was so deeply focused on her reading. She raised her head from Dracula and smiled at him. After what Henry had put her through during the evening, Charlie felt a natural need to massage her tense shoulders; Mary Ann hummed and leaned her head behind, her eyes closed to savour the feel of Charlie’s skillful hands stroking her neck and back gently.

“Thank you…” she murmured with a smile on her face. “You know what’s sort of funny?”

“No, what?” Charlie asked without stopping his ministrations.

“That you are so sweet with your hands, while they’re so big you could literally smash someone’s head with only one of them.”

Charlie chuckled and continued her massage, which she welcomed with a new sound of appreciation. 

“There are other sweet things I can do with my hands, if someone’s interested…” he naughtily teased.

“Oh, I know what you’re capable of, my dear.”, the young woman replied, looking dreamy. “But we’ve got to talk now,” Mary Ann stated, looking serious.

Charlie sighed. But he knew she was right, so he plucked two beers from the refrigerator and sat down beside her on the couch.


End file.
